Wash Hands After Applying Seasick Patches

People who use skin patches containing drugs to prevent motion sickness should wash their hands after applying the pads to avoid contaminating their eyes, a Boston physician says.

Touching an eye with fingers that handled the patch could result in dilation of the pupil for 6 to 12 hours, wrote Dr. Bruce H. Price, Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Scopolamine patches--small medicated bandages placed behind the ear that slowly release medication--are becoming more popular as treatment for seasickness, dizziness, vertigo and tinnitus, ringing in the ear. But few doctors and fewer patients aware of this adverse effect, he said.

Instructions for this prescribed drug, marketed as Transderm Scop, advise users to wash their hands after application.

Once in place, a backing layer should shield the medicated layer from being touched, according to CIBY-GEIGY, the company that makes the patches.